As a whole, the applications ranged from no comment to a few lines to long, detailed compelling reasons why they should be selected and how they would roadtest the product if selected.

How were the official roadtesters selected?

My Recommendations

After removing all the applicants' last names, email addresses, phone numbers, etc., I recommended 5 people with several runners up. I told the supplier that I thought there were many good applicants. I based my selections on whether the roadtester is in good standing (completed prior roadtests and/or write a compelling application. (If an applicant wrote an application that said "choose me, I want to learn more," I did not recommend that person. I did recommend some new roadtesters because they wrote a good application. My selection was primarily based on what you wrote and the effort you put in it.

The Supplier's Criteria

The supplier reported back to me that it was difficult to make a selection because there were many good applications. The supplier considered everyone, not just my recommendations. (Yes, a new roadtester was chosen as an official roadtester.)

The criteria was:

how thoughtful/thorough they were in how they would use the power supply

Whether they would appeal to the target customers

Whether their application catered to the capabilities of the E36313A

I'm sharing this information with you just before I post the official selections. It sounds to me the supplier was very thoughtful in the selection of the roadtesters.

If you were selected, my congratulations to you.

If you were not selected, I would consider reflecting on the criteria the supplier used and improve your application.

Always nice to read about what goes on behind the scenes. I didn't envy you and Keysight having to go through those 90 applications, but sounds like they might have actually enjoyed reading what an enthusiastic bunch we are !

Thanks for sharing that insight. Its quite valuable for someone who was not selected (I never get selected for the expensive stuff , maybe I can write a better application next time. 8But hey, I got at least a book about how to build my own power supply ;-) Maybe I should write a review for that one...

Thanks for publishing the criteria. These could be extremely useful in crafting successful proposals. In reviewing how these criteria match my proposal, which was one of the lucky ones that addressed some of the criteria, it suggests the criteria need to be studied carefully as they can have many significant facets..... There are many ways to demonstrate thoughtfulness and many ways to appeal to a target audience. Reading between the lines, there is probably lots of leeway to trade-off how many ideas you present versus how impressive each idea is. One thing that Randall has mentioned elsewhere that is critically important, especially if you haven't got a track record, is to present enough detail to provide confidence hat you can achieve what you propose.

I don't claim to have any magic formula or that my proposal here was somehow better but if other members are interested, I would be happy to share my thought processes in applying for this road test.

As a whole, the applications ranged from no comment to a few lines to long, detailed compelling reasons why they should be selected and how they would roadtest the product if selected.

How were the official roadtesters selected?

My Recommendations

After removing all the applicants' last names, email addresses, phone numbers, etc., I recommended 5 people with several runners up. I told the supplier that I thought there were many good applicants. I based my selections on whether the roadtester is in good standing (completed prior roadtests and/or write a compelling application. (If an applicant wrote an application that said "choose me, I want to learn more," I did not recommend that person. I did recommend some new roadtesters because they wrote a good application. My selection was primarily based on what you wrote and the effort you put in it.

The Supplier's Criteria

The supplier reported back to me that it was difficult to make a selection because there were many good applications. The supplier considered everyone, not just my recommendations. (Yes, a new roadtester was chosen as an official roadtester.)

The criteria was:

how thoughtful/thorough they were in how they would use the power supply

Whether they would appeal to the target customers

Whether their application catered to the capabilities of the E36313A

I'm sharing this information with you just before I post the official selections. It sounds to me the supplier was very thoughtful in the selection of the roadtesters.

If you were selected, my congratulations to you.

If you were not selected, I would consider reflecting on the criteria the supplier used and improve your application.